No need to be shy! My artstyle, for one, is not exactly "mine", but made using the resources of engines from other softwares. Besides, everyone in this world started from scratch, and I'm still a solo developer. Be confident and proud of your decision of taking the steps to walk this path.
Greetings!
Hi
You're right, and I apologize for that. Working solo and driven by pure passion has its side effects, and my multiple projects have divided my attention to the point that the translation of “And now, time to study” fell into a state of dormancy, with a script that has already become enormous in Spanish, and that's considering that the game is still only about 60% complete. Until now, to a greater or lesser degree, translating the scripts for my games has required the collaboration of kind people who were interested in helping out, and I haven't always had that kind of help available. In the specific case of “And now, time to study”, developments in the Spanish version outpaced the English translation very quickly, and just as quickly, it became impractical to translate coherent chunks of the story in a reasonable amount of time. The result is the current state of affairs.
Anyway, I'm not giving up. I'm still familiarizing myself with the use of AI for various tasks, including translations, and I hope to one day achieve the necessary mastery to produce a translation of the content created as of today; a translation that is accurate and at the same time as swift and painless as possible. I can't tell exactly when I'll be able to reach such goal, but I'm slowly working my way toward it.
Thank you in any case for your kind words, and I hope to be able to unblock this path sooner or later.
Greetings!
Exacto, el capítulo 6 aún está en proceso de escritura y tardaré un tiempo en tenerlo listo. Esto era simplemente un pequeño devlog para ir abriendo boca... En mi página de Facebook hay ya publicadas otras capturas de pantalla del nuevo contenido, que quizá comparta por aquí también.
Esa quinta Chica Monstruo sí será la última del "séquito" de Dave... en teoría, porque la historia va evolucionando y, bueno, nunca se sabe... ¿Qué será? Como dices, espero sorprenderos, y a poder ser gratamente, ¡jeje!
¡Un saludo!
Hi, long time no see! Nice to greet you again.
Indeed, it’s been a lot of time, the result of being a solo dev making two games at once, writing in two languages... and above all, doing this writing with the utmost care and detail, because well, I’m not satisfied with less than that.
The process of translating manually is tedious and time-consuming, especially when I am so attentive to detail, although I understand that this hardly serves as an excuse for many players. Anyway, and even if I’m not too much of an enthusiastic follower of the new fad, I’m confident that, with the advent of AI, sooner or later we devs will have in our hands APIs or the like designed for Ren'Py, with which translating enormous scripts will be almost a piece of cake. Of course, the result won’t be the optimum of a classic manual process, and editing phases carried out by us humans will still be needed at the end of the day. But it has already been proven that what an AI spits out is still a much better result than those obtained with the traditional MTL methods, and I can foresee that this will be useful at least to calm the anxieties of the most impatient players... or so I hope.
In the meantime, I continue with my patient writing, as always. Right now, my focus is on Chapter 6 of my other game, “Monster Girls: the Advent”, in its Spanish version. But hopefully, those translations will see the light of day sooner or later. I wish for all users out there, regardless of the language they speak, to be able to enjoy my visual novels.
Cheers and see you around!
Gracias de nuevo por tu comentario. En efecto, ese es mi propósito: que las largas esperas se traduzcan, sin excepción, en la máxima calidad que puedo brindar. Y en ello vuelco siempre todo mi empeño e ilusión. De eso, podéis estar seguros.
Buena suerte entonces con tu viaje por "Y ahora, a estudiar", ¡y espero que sea como sea lo disfrutes al máximo!
¡Hola otra vez!
Muchas gracias por tus cálidas palabras, y me alegro de que "Y ahora, a estudiar" esté ya agradándote cuando sólo has jugado un tramo inicial. Eso es destacable, sobre todo porque como ves, la temática de esta novela visual es absolutamente independiente de CMEA, que fue el juego que te atrajo en primer lugar, y no había ninguna garantía de que "Y ahora, a estudiar" fuera a responder a tus gustos personales.
Bueno, supongo que debo confesar... que sí, el carácter de esta clase de protagonistas siempre me ha atraído bastante. Soy consciente de que a muchos jugadores, sobre todo en los últimos tiempos, no les va meterse en la piel de gente de este tipo y están ya hastiados de ver actitudes como esa en el protagonista principal de una novela visual. Pero como siempre, todo es cuestión de gustos y variedad, y hay juegos y jugadores para todo. Yo, como jugador, pero también (y especialmente) como escritor, me suelo sentir cómodo fraguando personajes de este tipo, porque esta clase de carácter da mucha versatilidad y posibilidades a la hora de escribir una historia con diversos ganchos. Hasta cierto punto, el protagonista así diseñado puede dar impresión de ingenuo o hasta tonto, pero en una proporción nada desdeñable, lo que ocurre en realidad es que son protagonistas muy inclinados a vivir la vida a su manera personal, sin prestar demasiada atención (o la mínima imprescindible) a lo que les rodea. Aunque claro, para eso están las historias... para ver, entre otras cosas, una evolución de ese mismo carácter, y cómo al protagonista, por poco que lo quisiera al principio, se le van a poner en evidencia tarde o temprano todas esas cosas que él se obstinaba en ignorar. Narrar todo eso (entre otras muchas cosas, por supuesto) es un filón enorme para crear una historia interesante. He ahí parte de la motivación.
Sí, no eres ni mucho menos el primero al que Reiko cautiva... es algo que me complace, porque podría decir (metafóricamente) que Reiko lo ha conseguido por sí misma, ya que si bien es un personaje ciertamente entrañable desde su concepción, tampoco la diseñé con ese objetivo concreto en mente. Como todos los demás, evolucionó a medida que escribía la historia, y de forma muy natural se convirtió en la chica adorable pero con los pies en el suelo que es ahora.
De modo que, en efecto... tienes un dilema aquí, porque las rutas (sí, hay varias) de Reiko están aún por completar. A este respecto, te puedo adelantar que no sólo podrás acercarte a Reiko por la rama de voleibol, sino también por la rama de ciencias si juegas adecuadamente tus cartas. Esto es una manifestación más de esa versatilidad que estoy intentando crear en mi novela visual, con muchos caminos posibles, para contrarrestar la estructura rígida y encajonada que desde hace años (demasiados) tienden a mostrar las novelas visuales comerciales. (Es por esta razón que siempre suelo hablar de "ramas" más que de "rutas"). Sólo diré que si vas por la rama de ciencias, podrás ver tres Actos de cuatro completos con Reiko (y también Ayako); pero si vas por la rama de voleibol, que es la más incompleta hasta ahora, la historia se truncará al finalizar el segundo Acto (esta estructura de Actos no está explícitamente indicada dentro del juego, pero para que te orientes, el Acto 2 termina siempre antes de la llegada de las vacaciones de verano en la historia).
Respecto al tiempo que queda hasta que retome la escritura de este juego... bueno, ya te dije que ahora estoy centrándome en el Capítulo 6 de CMEA y que esto está en sus fases iniciales, así que... sonará duro, pero seguramente será del orden de meses o un par de años, y por supuesto, más tiempo aún hasta que realmente complete la siguiente actualización. Es lo que tiene ser un desarrollador indie que trabaja solo, sin fines comerciales y siguiendo su pasión: la paciencia es fundamental. Eso sí, lo que puedo decir es que, a menos que los fans me pidan de forma unánime otra cosa, cuando retome "Y ahora, a estudiar" me centraré en completar ese cuarto y último Acto en la rama de Reiko y Ayako, que es la más avanzada que puedes ver ahora mismo si quieres seguir a Reiko.
En vista de esto, sí, te recomiendo que le des una oportunidad a la línea argumental de Naho, y veas si resuena al menos de forma parcial contigo. La garantía que tienes aquí es que verás toda la historia completa, y aún te diré más, puedes acceder a la ruta de Naho por más de un camino...
Un caluroso saludo y espero de verdad que "Y ahora, a estudiar" te brinde una experiencia lo más agradable posible.
¡Muchas gracias y hasta pronto!
¡Hola de nuevo! Me complace que hayas decidido probar también "Y ahora, a estudiar". Para ponerte en situación, diré que este juego es mucho más voluminoso que CMEA (al ser más antiguo) y tiene ya un buen surtido de rutas; aunque sigue estando lejos de completarse. Sin embargo, tienes desde luego mucho que explorar aquí si te gusta lo de escudriñar todos los caminos posibles de una novela visual.
En este sentido estás de relativa enhorabuena, porque hace muy poco, publiqué los dos primeros finales de la historia, referentes a dos de las protagonistas. Sí, una de ellas es la profesora... aunque su ruta no es fácil de alcanzar, por lo que no es tan probable que aterrices en ella. La otra protagonista adulta no es exactamente una profesora, y su línea argumental todavía no está completa (falta escribir el último Acto), por lo que aquí estás relativamente "a salvo".
Por lo demás, como digo, hay muchas ramas a explorar, aunque la mayoría de ellas están aún incompletas. Con un poco de suerte, entrarás en la rama de la única chica no profesora cuya historia está terminada (Imai Naho)... Si es así, podrás disfrutar de ella en toda su extensión (¡crucemos los dedos!).
En cualquier caso, espero que la experiencia sea de tu agrado. ¡Ya me contarás!
¡Un saludo!
¡Hola! ¿Qué tal? Me alegro de volver a saludarte después de este tiempo, y espero que estés disfrutando de ese grandioso juego que es MGQ.
Vamos a ponernos en situación:
La versión más actual de CMEA es la 0.5, y hace exactamente tres años que la publiqué aquí... por tanto, estoy casi seguro de que ya has jugado todo lo que hay disponible hasta ahora. Esa reciente actualización a la que creo que te refieres (de hace un par de meses) es la traducción al inglés de ese mismo tramo de la historia, que no creo que sea lo que buscas. En resumidas cuentas, este juego está en su versión 0.5 tanto en español como en inglés actualmente.
Hace poco, después de publicar la última gran actualización de mi otro juego, empecé a escribir el que sí será el siguiente tramo de historia de CMEA: el Capítulo 6. Pero esto está todavía en desarrollo temprano. Si sigues mi página de Facebook, muy pronto publicaré un par de imágenes que dan fe de ello, para abrir boca, ¡jeje!
Si quieres más detalles sin spoilers públicos, siempre puedes escribirme a mi Discord. O en su defecto, podemos tratar de comunicarnos por e-mail.
¡Un cordial saludo!
Hi, I'm the most pleased one to know you're enjoying the game so much! This, and comments like yours, make it all worth, so thank you for your messages and your enthusiasm!
Right now I'm starting to write Chapter 6 in Spanish, so as always, it will be a matter of patience. But you can rest assured that I'll be pouring all I have in this endeavour, so that everyone can keep enjoying the experience to the fullest.
Best regards, and see you around!
There's a moderate amount of sexual combat with Monster Girls, as in Monster Girl Quest if you know that game, but not to the same extent. So yes, if you lose, the MC will be raped, though not always, and not always after a fight... The concept revolves more around deep talks with some of these creatures, and the MC's attempts to come to terms with their existence and understand their place in the world.
That pretty much sums it up.
Hola, disculpa la demora en la respuesta.
Es bueno saber que tienes deseos de crear tu propia novela visual. Es una experiencia muy gratificante, pero que también requiere esfuerzo y constancia. Si tu ilusión te mueve, y te dejas guiar por ella, puedes alcanzar metas muy satisfactorias.
Traducir novelas visuales hechas en Ren'Py te ayudará en efecto a familiarizarte con los editores de texto y las herramientas que de manera común se usan en la creación de un juego de este tipo. Agradezco mucho tu ofrecimiento, y estaré encantado de darte un texto de prueba para que lo traduzcas al inglés. Estos archivos (con extensión .rpy) se manejan con editores de texto como Atom o Editra, aunque estos son ya un poco antiguos. Si te descargas o ya te has descargado Ren'Py de su página web, podrás bajarte el editor de texto más actualizado.
No recuerdo si tenía tu dirección de e-mail, Discord o similar. Si quieres contactar conmigo por privado para que te pase el archivo a traducir, y resolver cualquier duda que tengas, mi Discord es Ras Alaghe.
¡Un saludo!
Hola, ¿qué tal? Saludos de nuevo y muchas gracias por tus cálidas palabras.
Respecto a tu consulta, por supuesto, el juego está vivo y muy vivo. Aun así, hay que tener en cuenta que soy la única persona dedicada al desarrollo del mismo, con lo cual los avances son siempre muy, muy lentos. Por otra parte, la versión en inglés va mucho más atrasada que la original en español, por lo cual pasará aún mucho tiempo antes de que el texto en inglés alcance el punto actual en español; y en todo caso, siempre irá a remolque y estará descolgada en gran medida de la versión en español. Esa sería la "mala noticia"...
La buena noticia es que, actualmente, estoy a punto de culminar los primeros finales de la historia en español, relativos a las líneas argumentales de Naho y Yabuki, y en no mucho tiempo más espero poder liberar esta gran actualización del juego. De modo que, si eres capaz de seguir la historia en español y no te importa hacerlo, podrás disfrutar de estos finales completos relativamente pronto.
Muchas gracias por tus comentarios, por tu fidelidad y por tus palabras de aprecio, las valoro mucho. Y espero que la actualización que estoy preparando haga las delicias de todos vosotros. Por supuesto, no dudes en contactar conmigo siempre que quieras.
¡Nos vemos!
Hi, JevJov! Thank you very much for taking the time to write me, and for such kind words. I’m really glad you enjoyed the game, its design, mechanics, and the story altogether.
Yes, it more or less shows that I put a good deal of effort to build Dave’s character, and to convey his way of facing life, his thoughts and his worries in the world that fate wanted him to live in. Narrating the existence of someone with a scientific background in such a universe is turning out to be a particularly satisfying challenge. Of course, not all players relate with Dave’s personality, but I’m surprised to an extent with the number of people who, like yourself, are enjoying having him as the main character of a Monster Girls’ game. Likewise, I’m aware that a considerable number of people prefer action instead of immersing themselves in lengthy descriptions of scenarios and thoughts. At any rate, I always consider narration to be a key aspect of games in this genre, and words like yours are probably the best praise a writer can get (especially considering that I’m not a native English speaker). So, I’m deeply grateful!
It’s also noteworthy that you pointed out the issue of background music. Indeed, that’s too often a matter taken for granted, but music is an unsuspectedly powerful tool to evoke human feelings, and in truth, it’s no easy task to choose the right music track for the right moment in a story. Observing subtle things like rhythm, accords, tonality/modality and so on really makes a difference, and having a bit of an education in music also helps a little in this regard, even when using Creative Commons pieces.
I’m guessing (correct me if I’m wrong) that the experiment you talk about refers to Fun’s last scene in Chapter 3 (which, by the way, is a relatively hidden one, only accessible if you meet certain conditions beforehand). I don’t want to do too flagrant spoilers in a public section of comments, so I’ll simply say that such “violation” in the story is an inheritance of previous games of the genre which I’m getting inspiration from, mainly, Monster Girl Quest from Toro Toro Resistance. I think I know your feeling and where it comes from; certainly, I wouldn’t like to get forced like that… but in the world Dave lives in, that’s always a very real chance, and one of Fun’s hidden points was that he would do well in assuming this sooner rather than later. Of course, Dave will do his best to avoid that ever happening again…
Overall, I’m glad your experience with my game is turning out to be so positive. Since I’m on my own in this endeavor, development is rather slow, but I’ll keep investing efforts in the same direction to write the following chapters, and of course, to bring the English language to the ones still untranslated, so that more people can enjoy this story that, before I realized, turned pretty epic. Feel free to share your thoughts on any other matter anytime, and again, thank you. Comments like yours always make my day!
Cheers!
Hi
Currently, there’s still no estimated date for that release. Also, I’m not sure whether you mean you understand some Spanish and hence you can personally handle the corresponding version of the game. Maybe, if you know some way to obtain an automated translation in-game, by all means let us know, since it could come in handy for many people while proper translation is in progress. Or maybe you are volunteering to translate some of the script? Of course, you’d be welcome, just reach out to me.
Regards
Ras Alaghe
It is, though I’m not focused in the English version at the moment. Currently, I’m writing the first endings of the Spanish script (in the Naho/Yabuki branch). As the climax of these storylines, it’s quite a sizable and demanding work, so it will still take a while. Not to mention that I also have my second game, “Monster Girls: the Advent”, to take care of.
It’s a very busy period right now, so I still can’t estimate a precise timeline. But eventually, of course, I will keep on with the English counterpart of the script of “And now, time to study”.
We’ll keep in touch!
Hiya, how are things going? Glad to hear from you again.
What’s available so far in the game is indeed food for thought, and some interesting ideas like yours can arise. I like your definition of Dave as an unlikely hero; it strikes me as a pretty accurate one, and things are certainly starting to point in such a direction. Whether that will take the form of a Monster Girl army of sorts under his leadership, ready to fight in some open battle… well, that’s still unclear. We’ll have to wait and see; and not only because of Dave’s prejudice. Many factors are bound to come into play here, and most of them will be rather subtle. Maybe that’s the direction we’re heading into, maybe not so much… but I can’t deny that your vision is an amusing and plausible idea.
Spider Girls, as I recall them from Monster Girl Quest (my main source of inspiration), are indeed fearsome beings, first and foremost. But as seen in other media, like certain anime with Monmusu themes, they can be managed like somewhat tamable creatures that become more or less fond of the MC, just as other Monster Girls (and admittedly, I don’t dislike those scenarios at all). Originally, I didn’t have in mind any Arachne becoming close to Dave in such a sense, since my idea was closer to the one depicted in MGQ. But as the script is in the process of being written, and like I often say, there’s always room for new and interesting developments in the plot.
Although it’s in no way an easy task to gather Monster Girls around a human being, even less making them work together as a team towards a goal higher than “feeding and reproduce”, Dave is certainly managing to achieve something, at least, very vaguely related… and he’s not even fully aware of it yet. A group of Monster Girls can easily and rapidly destabilize, because, as you say, they have a fundamental weakness: their instincts. And it’s difficult enough doing so with a few Monster Girls… but, why not, someone with an unsuspected charisma like Dave could end up achieving something of the sort, in the short or long run. Maybe, he’s not even the first one in this world to succeed in such an endeavor…
Currently, I’m quite busy writing the first endings of the Spanish version of “And now, time to study”, so I’m afraid I have to say that the development of “Monster Girls: the Advent” is halted as of now. Version 0.5 has been out in Spanish for some time, and it certainly could answer at least some of your questions, but I’m still not ready to do its English translation. Eventually, it will be done, of course; but we’ll have to be patient. I’m a solo dev and things are bound to move little by little; but I enjoy this very much as a hobby, and I’m always pleased to talk with people like you, exchanging feelings and inspiring ideas about my stories.
Regards!
Thanks again for your insights.
True, the entropy issue is yet another example that very few things in the world, or the universe for that matter, are just black or white. Certainly, the balance in every system always results in the end in an increase of entropy, and life doesn't counter that. It's good to be aware of all this information, even when, of course, a game generally doesn't need to deepen more than necessary in these issues, and most players themselves won't even feel the need to. Likewise, it's unlikely that a group of physics scholars will gather around a visual novel to discuss in depth this or other issues. If that ever happens, I'll gladly join a debate with them. But I think we agree this is not the point here.
Thanks as well for your contribution in the gloves and corrosive chemicals issue. The idea is pretty much what you mention, and delving into this makes necessary to warn people that this can be dangerous to test in real life, as you emphasized.
Regards!
Your thoughts are interesting, perspicacious, and show just how involved you are with the story, so as a writer I couldn't be more glad. Players having a fun and deep experience is the ultimate goal here, after all.
Alba, indeed, is a good example of how much I always intend to develop characters in a story... even when said characters aren't humans, and even when the background is supposed to be that of an H-game. I must admit that I myself am incredibly fond of Alba since the very beginning, as the first Monster Girl character I ever created, and I enjoyed especially writing her events in the first two Chapters. Inspiring the sympathy of players towards Monster Girls is the first and necessary ingredient in order to explore every interaction and development that will come in the future. I'm hoping this to be an exciting, challenging and, at times, endearing experience.
Exploring the limits of humanity is clearly one of the most exciting endeavors I want to carry out in "Monster Girls: the Advent", and I'm having a great time writing about this and other themes, that will also be present in the story. True enough, if Monster Girls are in principle dangerous creatures, humans don't fall short at all, and as a big community, they can even pose a greater threat in some key departments. This idea will show itself over time, little by little... but manifestly enough.
That's correct: "And now, time to study" is my other game; in fact, I started writing it before MGTA. The setting is obviously different, but it contains quite some other interesting ideas to explore as well, in a seemingly usual school-themed visual novel.
Have a nice time playing, and I'll be here for any other comment whenever.
Cheers!
Hi again!
I'm really grateful for your dedicated and invaluable help in this regard, as well as the rest of your comments. A deep enough research job in etymology and historical matters, that I'm sure will come in handy not just now, but in later stages of the game as well. I'll make sure to delve into it as the story progresses, particularly when the time comes to translate other finished chapters into English.
I think I'll come to agree with you regarding the word "physician". Since, as you point out, it doesn't seem out of place in the medieval age, all my doubts are cleared. "Physicist" will become "physician" in the script, and this way, English speakers won't be confused either.
For what you say, "baptism" won't have such an easy solution. Either way, I don't feel (or I don't want to think) that it will offend players if that's what you meant; after all, people who download these games know fully well what to expect from them. Not something to be careless about, anyway, and I certainly try to always be on guard with things that could result in potential offenses in some cases. All that said, "baptism" is still the closest I can come up with to refer, once more as you point out, to the circumstances being depicted when the Nekomata joins the group, and the tone of this moment in the story.
I am also happy to read people's thoughts on the game experience itself, more so when they are elaborate and insightful like yours.
I understand why you could see Dave as the classic clod MC, and in a sense, I'm not intending to move too far away from that perception, seeing as this is, in the end, an H game (even if I'm not planning to make it too nukige; very much the opposite in fact, when the story advances further). As a side effect, and taking into account Dave's temper, I also see how a number of players will see him as nothing short of an insensitive asshole. But this is precisely Dave's nature, and I'm hoping to convey, as the story moves forward, that he's in fact far from being a dick character. This development will be indeed one of the guiding threads of the story as a whole. And, of course, players developing a degree of sympathy for the cast of Monster Girls is yet another element in this game.
As you correctly state, Dave is, no more no less, a pioneer who wants to push forward out of the age and world he happened to be born in. Most of his demeanor and apparently insensitive attitudes stem actually from his deeply and, sometimes, exaggeratedly cautious and circumspect nature. He lives in a world with Monster Girls, which, like it or not, are potentially dangerous beings; and Dave knows this full well, even when, at the same time, he doesn't know much else about these creatures. And these knowledge gaps are precisely what make Dave so distrustful, and keep him from being a bit more empathetic with the "special" companions whom, one way or the other, are starting to gather around him.
Dave knows as well something important: no matter what it seems, Monster Girls are not human beings... something that some people in the game's world seem to be blissfully unaware of. (Note that you yourself used the word "woman" to refer to the Slime Girl, and this is just one of the main aspects I'm playing with and exploring in this narration. In the same line, what a Monster Girl considers "benefit" or "risk" to herself may very well not fit with human standards at all). And since Monster Girls are not human beings per se, you can't take for granted normal or even "safe" reactions when dealing with them. This is true and reasonable enough, and Dave knows it very well. But, how far can he really take his apprehension and his distrust? Can he take it at face value at all times? Where's the frontier between being cautious and being obsessive? That's set to be one of Dave's main dilemmas. And, maybe, just maybe, he'll end up finding out that Monster Girls can have more human traits than he thinks... and, what would be even more surprising: maybe they can have positive traits never found in humans...
That's the gist of it, and even when I enjoy it, I don't really want to keep talking and end up spoiling things. As one would expect, I'm keeping to myself some key details that, sooner or later, will come to shed light on the big picture. Anyway, part of that epiphany for Dave may not be too far off... Chapter 5 will be the starting point in that regard. But just that, the starting point...
As I said, I'm busy with my other game as of now, so yes, we'll have to be patient... but I hope to keep moving forward the English version of "Monster Girls: the Advent" as well.
Thanks a lot for your help and words of encouragement, it really makes my day!
See you around!
Hi! Thank you very much for taking the time to comment on all this. It's much appreciated feedback, especially since English is not my first language.
The physicist-physician thing was not intended as a pun, and it's certainly a controversial duo I was struggling with at the time. You're right that, in a strict sense, "physician" should be the choice to refer to the medical profession. Despite this, I found elsewhere that "medical physicist" can be used sometimes in the context I intended, and I thought hard about the term I should use here. The thing is, during our world's medieval age (the analogous setting of the game's world), people who practiced medical treatments were not called "doctors" per se, and in Spanish at least, I ascertained that a word commonly used then was "físico". I don't know whether this comparison would be also valid in English, and my hesitation stemmed mainly from this; but in the end I decided to use the term "physicist" as a means to mimic, in the game's world, this not-so-usual name to refer to someone carrying out medical-like tasks (versus "physician", which in our world and nowadays would be the unquestionable choice). I'm still not sure whether my choice was appropriate, and I could very well change it in further versions of the game, especially after your assessment.
About the "agape" word, I think you're totally right and there's barely room for discussion here. Maybe it can be a valid term per se in the context I used it, but certainly, most English speaking audience could misunderstand or miss its meaning. Indeed, I'm glad to know that some players can learn new things from my narrations, but in this case it's not so necessary to force the cultural thing; so I will probably change it to something more common, like perhaps "banquet".
Again, thank you very much for pointing all this out, for your interest and your obvious commitment in sharing this information with me, I really appreciate it! You're absolutely welcome to comment whatever else you consider, and of course, I hope you have a great time replaying my game.
Regards!
Thank you very much! And well seen! It's indeed a curious and funny detail. I tend to be very scrupulous about these myself, and pondered about this very one as I was writing. But in the end I decided to give free rein to the narrative without worrying too much, because in these cases flexibility is always preferable. Nevertheless, in my story, there are other aspects with which I'll need to be stricter.
Anyway, and certainly, a scientist in the midst of a fantasy world could afford to invent units of measurement of the SI of another world. And even if Dave and his scientific ways were not there, the key is that we're in a fantastic world, where everything is possible. I mean, just to cite an example, what reason is there for these people to speak English, when in that world there is not and hasn't ever been a country named England, Anglo-Saxon culture, or anything of the sort? That's precisely why I love to tell stories in an isekai, because there, you have the freedom to introduce the elements you want almost by definition!
Hope you've enjoyed what's available. Right now I'm busy with my other game, but sooner or later I'll resume writing chapter 6 of Monster Girls: the Advent (in Spanish), and the translation of chapter 5.
See you around!
¡Hola! ¿Qué tal? Gracias por tu mensaje. Espero que disfrutases de lo que hay disponible del juego hasta ahora.
Por supuesto, tengo toda la intención de continuar escribiendo la versión en español de "Chicas Monstruo: el Advenimiento", que de hecho, es la más avanzada (al contrario de lo que suele suceder con la inmensa mayoría de juegos indie comerciales, donde el inglés, desde luego, es el idioma preferente). Mis motivaciones en los dos proyectos que aquí estoy compartiendo tienen muy poco o nada que ver con los fines comerciales, razón por la cual se da esta preferencia de idiomas, así como otros aspectos y señas de identidad, que no vienen al caso.
Y en efecto, tengo asimismo la intención y, más aún, la motivación de terminar la historia. Puedo decirte, de hecho, que el esqueleto de la misma está montado desde hace tiempo, así como el plan de ruta, y tengo una idea bastante clara de la forma que tomará el desenlace del juego. Lo que no es impedimento para que, a lo largo del camino, pueda haber lugar para modificaciones interesantes sobre la marcha, algo que constituye una parte de la misma magia de la creación y su asociado gozo.
Otra cosa es el tiempo que llevará alcanzar esa conclusión del juego... y así como soy totalmente sincero en los párrafos anteriores, debo serlo también en esto: terminar el proyecto va a llevar años. Como mínimo. Debido, primero, a que soy un desarrollador individual; segundo, a que tengo dos proyectos en marcha de forma simultánea; y tercero, y más importante, a que estos proyectos son hobbies gratuitos que se nutren de ilusión, paciencia y esmero en cada detalle, en lugar de someterse a "deadlines" asociados a la industria y el márketing más fríos. Si obedeciese a esas tendencias, seguramente no tendríais ni por asomo un producto de la calidad que tenéis ahora en las manos.
Sé que a muchos jugadores les preocupa o incomoda que tantos juegos indie tarden una eternidad en completarse, y la mayoría de estos, ni siquiera lleguen a eso y queden simplemente abandonados y olvidados. Ojalá pudiese decir otra cosa, pero no puedo engañaros. Ese gozo al que me he referido, y no el dinero o los fines comerciales, es el auténtico motor de mis juegos en particular; y ello conlleva la necesidad de ser muy pacientes, e ir descubriendo poco a poco, capítulo a capítulo, los secretos que mis juegos tienen reservados. De hecho, es así como aconsejo que lo valoréis, en lugar de pensar en plazos para ver la conclusión del juego "al final del túnel".
En todo caso, puedo asegurar una cosa: mis juegos nunca van a ser abandonados, u olvidados.
Entre otros motivos, porque son también una manera de compartir mis aficiones y el placer a ellas asociadas con otros fans del género. Porque eso soy a la postre: un fan más, como todos vosotros.
Actualmente estoy dedicado a completar una de las líneas argumentales de mi otro juego, "Y ahora, a estudiar". Y en este, como en "Chicas Monstruo: el Advenimiento", voy a seguir volcando toda mi ilusión y esmero, paso a paso, para que podáis disfrutar en toda su extensión de mi visión de lo que una novela visual ha de ser, y jamás debería dejar de ser.
Por supuesto, siempre son bienvenidos comentarios y sugerencias, porque con el intercambio entre fans es como mejor construimos las obras que son motivo de nuestro mayor disfrute.
¡Un saludo y nos vemos!
Ras Alaghe
Hi! I'm glad you liked my game. It's indeed in development, though it's a rather slow one. Right now I'm working on the Spanish version, as well as my other game, so it'll take a while before the English version of "And now, time to study" goes forward. Pretty much what it entails to be a solo developer, I'm afraid...
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the game thus far, and thank you very much for your words. Feel free to comment whatever anytime.
I'll keep at it. See you around!
Hi! How are you? Of course, I always make sure to read people's comments here, and yours is no exception! Moreover, I really appreciate words like yours, and they always make my day!
I'm truly glad to know you enjoyed what is available of my game so far, and certainly, I am right now working to bring Chapter 4 of "Monster Girls: the Advent" to all the English speaking audience. It's still going to take a while, but we're on the way!
Meanwhile, feel free to contact me anytime for suggestions, comments or simply to share interests or a relaxed chat.
See you around!
Hi! It's nice to greet you again. Don't worry, I hope your computer can get fixed sooner than later.
As for the next version of the game, I'm right now working on the Spanish one, which will take a bit long because I'm writing one of the endings of the story at last (and this will include a lot of different events, an unprecedented amount so far). I can't make an accurate estimate, but this is still months away at the least... as is the English version, which could possibly arrive sooner depending on how much time I take translating chapter 4 of my other game, "Monster Girls: the Advent" (the other task that occupies me now).
Also, I'm not in a special need to reach out to more VN players, and in fact I've never been, as this activity is, in essence, a hobby. For that same reason, I'm not considering Patreon or any other similar platform at the moment. Needless to say, monetization is not my goal either, at least for now. I'm more than satisfied just sharing the fruits of my enthusiastic work in a few sites like this, and talking with the fans that are genuinely interested in my games; fans who come to me out of pure will and shared interests, instead of me actively pursuing them with a more or less aggressive advertising.
Anyway, I appreciate your suggestions, and it will be a pleasure to keep in touch with you.
Regards!
Thank you very much, and welcome back! Yes, I remember you, and I'm glad you have time to show up around here again!
Indeed, the "Meaningful choices" tag is a must in my games... because, in turn, it's sadly disappearing from too many other visual novels (whether their authors or companies admit it or not), practically making some of them unworthy of such a name. I certainly talked about it in detail in the mini essay you refer to, and those are still and will be the standards I follow.
Hope you enjoy the current version of "And now, time to study", and sure, I'll keep investing in it the same efforts and, more importantly, the same or even more enthusiasm.
See you around!
Sí, por supuesto, aunque se harán esperar. El plan de ruta del capítulo 6 está ya trazado, pero habré de tomarme mi tiempo para escribirlo y programarlo... después de terminar mis ocupaciones actuales, que son traducir el capítulo 4 de la versión en inglés, y escribir los primeros finales de mi otro juego, "Y ahora, a estudiar".
Un saludo y espero que hayas disfrutado de la versión actual de CMEA. ¡Hasta luego!
Indeed, it's not abandoned. It's just that the updates usually take this long... because I have to split my efforts among several projects at once and the management of two languages, which keeps me this busy. I'm glad you had a good time with the current version of Monster Girls: the Advent, and you can be sure I'll keep working on it with the same enthusiasm, if not more.
Cheers and see you!
¡Hola! Encantado de saludarte de nuevo.
En efecto, tal como compilo el juego, cada nueva versión es un "build" completo con más contenido, pero que hay que volver a empezar a jugar desde el principio. En teoría, sería posible compartir "saves" de versiones anteriores, pero es muy posible que esto dé lugar a problemas de compatibilidad debido a la alta frecuencia con que el software de Ren'Py se actualiza, así que no suelo recomendar esto. Lo más seguro sigue siendo empezar una nueva partida de cero en cada nueva versión (a fin de cuentas, siempre transcurre un tiempo considerable entre versiones, así que, como dices, nunca está de más refrescar la memoria de todo el argumento cada vez que se juega una versión actualizada).
No te preocupes, sin embargo: en modo alguno te quedarás en el mismo punto que la última vez. La versión del juego que tienes ya incluye todo el nuevo contenido, así que la historia continuará adelante ahí donde, en la versión anterior, finalizaba.
Como siempre, que lo disfrutes, y aquí estoy para cualquier cosa que quieras comentar o consultar.
¡Hasta luego!
Suena a problema de firewall o similar en tu propio dispositivo, ya que la mayoría de usuarios no reporta ese comportamiento. Poco más puedo decirte, aparte de que intentes examinar si tienes alguna configuración que impida la descarga de archivos con extensión .apk. Por desgracia, no tengo ningún control en absoluto sobre cómo se comportan los dispositivos de los usuarios.
